The Montgomery school system will likely hire an outside investigator to assist with its internal inquiry into allegations there is a systemwide hazing culture in athletic programs, Superintendent Jack Smith said Thursday.
As Smith was holding a monthly meeting with reporters, a judge ordered the case of a fourth Damascus High School football player accused of rape moved to juvenile court after the teen was initially charged as an adult.
Smith said when the school system gets clearance from the county prosecutor’s office to begin a large-scale internal investigation, it will likely hire outside personnel to help.
“They’ll give us a very clear picture of what they find and we’ll … make sure we’re doing all we can to ensure our programs are safe for our students,” Smith said.
Last month Smith said the school system began investigating the circumstances surrounding the alleged Oct. 31 rapes at Damascus High. That investigation is focusing on what school leaders have said was a lack of adult supervision during the time of the alleged rapes, rather than the criminal acts themselves.
The county’s prosecutor, which filed rape charges against five junior varsity football players, had asked the school system to wait while it conducted its preliminary criminal investigation, Smith said.
Four of the boys were charged as adults, but all four cases have since been shifted to juvenile court, where a focus is on rehabilitation and providing remediation services.
All four teens said the “hazing” is “tradition” and some said they underwent the same treatment during previous football seasons.
Smith said the school system will provide regular, transparent updates about its internal investigation and findings.
“We can’t share any information about the judicial process (with community members), but we’ll share what we intend to do as far as our internal investigation, which we’ve been very anxious to do since last fall,” Smith said. “We have been respectful and, I think, appropriate in our response to the state’s attorney’s office request to not have crossover in our investigations.”
